2018-2019

A moment to reflect – My first five milestone years at SJACS

This is my 5^th year working as Principal of St. Joseph’s Anglo-Chinese School and it is time to sit back and reflect what we have accomplished so far.

Academically, we strove for the enhancement of the overall performance of all Josephians both internally in the school and externally in public examinations.  Apart from the Elite Students Scheme and the Performance Enhancement Scheme conducted by subject teachers, we also received tremendous support from our old boys.  Furthermore, we introduced the After-school Enhancement Course and the Athletes Academic Performance Improvement Classes.  All these were done not only to focus on the elites who had already achieved commendable results, but also to assist the less academically competent students and athletes who contributed their time representing the school in inter-school competitions. We helped improve their performances in uniform tests and even in term examinations.  It was under such conditions that more students could eventually benefit from the academic policy.

The introduction of the TOEFL course, the TOEFL Junior course and the GCSE Chinese Language course helped equip Josephians with the admission requirement to local universities.  Exposure to different languages like Japanese, German, Spanish, French and Russian was also another policy that helped us push the boundary in preparing Josephians for further studies or career development in the respective countries in the near future.  Interest groups like the German Language and Culture Club and the Italian Culture Club enabled them to enrich their knowledge specifically in those regions.

Regarding the infrastructure of the school, we have not only successfully repainted the whole school before the coming of the Diamond Jubilee last year, we have also completed a sizeable amount of  enhancement projects that helped build an ideal study environment in the school.  These include the renovation of the School History Museum and the climbing wall, the resurfacing project for the basketball courts, the installation of an LED monitor outside the School History Museum, LED walls in the school hall and elevator decals featuring the school motto and nurturing theme, the replacement work of the hall floor, and the setting up of Campus TV.  All these improvements not only further facilitated the running of school activities, but also contributed to the future development of the school.

To further enrich the religious atmosphere around the school campus, we have completed the mosaics which depict the Annunciation, the Three Kings, and the birth of our Lord.  Besides, the installation of the Catholic education core values-themed staircase decals, the setting of the outdoor grotto for The Mother of God statue and the renovation of the interior setting of the mini-chapel were all done in recent years.  All these provided more opportunities for Josephians to be exposed to the good vibes of God within the campus.

To facilitate STREAM Education, we created the Bio-Eco Corner which has not only become the meeting place for the students while having science lessons, but also one of the iconic landmarks of the school that has attracted many visitors and alumni.  This undoubtedly aligns with the saying ‘good tools are half the job’!

In order to make our students become an integral part of society, we strategically established a Six-year Josephians Nurturing Scheme in which students may partake in a series of activities, including voluntary service, cross-boundary or overseas cultural and study tours, leadership training, service lessons, Spiritual Education, Career and Life Planning Programme and STREAM Education.  With all these arrangements, every single Josephian will have the chance to experience different opportunities in learning and development.  More importantly, the all-round opportunity also enriches their experiences and broadens their scope in writing the Students Learning Profile (SLP) in senior forms.

Externally, to promote the recent school development, we organized open days not only for our feeder school, SJACPS, but also for the primary schools from which the majority of our F.1 students came.  We have connected with more primary schools within and beyond the district where we are located and thus we have had more chances to introduce our school to the parents from different districts.  To access more social resources for Josephians, I have involved myself in different social organizations and committees.  Josephians therefore are able to participate in some regional activities which in turn further broaden their horizons.

It is never easy as we try to nurture an ideal learning and teaching environment for all Josephians; all along we have encountered tremendous obstacles and challenges – Rome was never built in a day!  So my students, whenever you face any difficulties in the future, keep your head up!  Don’t feel bad when you seek help from your parents, teachers and those you trust.  I hope that with the efforts of all stakeholders at SJACS, we can turn a new page for the school together.

Last but not least, we strive to help students attain their goals and we encourage students to develop their potential to the fullest – making their dreams come true in the future.

Dear Josephians, join me in trying our best and one day we will for sure beat the rest!

Benedict Poon

Principal